Waste Pills Are All I Need, a Second-Grade Exotic Fire!

Su Ziyun stood to the side, her expression so awkward it could not have been worse; she wished she could find a crack in the ground and crawl into it.

Ye Xuan rubbed his brow. After a moment, he gave a carefree smile. "Fine. A creditor it is, then. Junior Sister, please take me to Hundred Herbs Pill House."

The female disciple looked toward Su Ziyun. Only after seeing her Sect Master nod helplessly did she answer, "Yes, Ye... Holy Son Ye. Please follow me."

On the way down the mountain, Ye Xuan learned that this female disciple was called Xiao Tao. She was Chu Wan'er's personal maid and also an inner disciple of the Violet Firmament Sect.

Ye Xuan noticed that Xiao Tao kept secretly glancing at him from the corners of her eyes. Whenever he caught her, she immediately lowered her head with a flushed face.

Amused, he took the initiative to ask, "Junior Sister Xiao Tao, why do you keep looking at me?"

Xiao Tao's cheeks turned crimson, and her voice was very soft. "Because... because Senior Brother Ye Xuan is really handsome. No wonder Senior Sister Wan'er likes you so much..."

Ye Xuan could not help laughing speechlessly.

Handsome? In this cruel world of cultivation, what use was being handsome?

After descending Saintess Peak, the two arrived at the Violet Firmament Sect's main square.

Ye Xuan swept his gaze around and saw only a few dozen scattered disciples cultivating, most of them listless.

As the Northern Region's only first-rate sect, it had withered to such a state. Ye Xuan's heart sank slightly, and he gained a more direct understanding of the Violet Firmament Sect's predicament.

Yet what surprised him even more was that quite a few disciples looked at him with inexplicable hostility and doubt.

"Senior Brother Ye Xuan, please don't take it to heart... The moment you entered the sect, the Sect Master directly appointed you Holy Son. And everyone in the sect has been saying that the Sect Master emptied the sect's reserves to help you, so many senior brothers and sisters are unhappy about it..." Xiao Tao hurriedly explained.

After hesitating, she suggested, "How about we take a side path and go around before leaving the sect?"

"Go around?" Ye Xuan raised a brow and smiled calmly. "No need. In all I do, I, Ye Xuan, have a clear conscience."

With that, he held his head high and strode forward with Xiao Tao, heading straight toward the center of the square.

Tianyun City lay right between the Violet Firmament Sect and the Azure Mist Sect, and it was the Northern Region's foremost city.

Before long, Ye Xuan and Xiao Tao entered the city without incident.

The city was flourishing, with carriages and horses flowing like water and dragons.

But when Ye Xuan followed Xiao Tao to Hundred Herbs Pill House, he found that despite its excellent location, it had scarcely any customers.

Meanwhile, the Soaring Cloud Trading House across the street had customers lined up like a long dragon, its business booming.

What made Ye Xuan frown slightly was that the air around Hundred Herbs Pill House was filled not with the fresh fragrance of pills, but with a fishy stench.

Xiao Tao looked at the deserted entrance, her steps hesitant.

"Senior Brother Ye Xuan... are we really going in? I heard that several of Hundred Herbs Pill House's veteran alchemists were recently lured away by the Lingyun Pill House across the street with high offers. They can barely protect themselves now..."

Ye Xuan suddenly understood.

No wonder the place was so desolate. Its alchemists had all been poached.

He patted Xiao Tao's shoulder reassuringly. "It's all right. Since we're here, we have to face it sooner or later. Let's go."

With that, he led Xiao Tao openly into Hundred Herbs Pill House.

Just as their figures disappeared through the entrance, three magnificent Cloud-Treading Colt spirit beasts pulled an ornate carriage to a steady stop before the Lingyun Pill House across the street.

The carriage curtain was lifted, and a young man and woman stepped down one after another.

The man was heroic and spirited, with arrogance between his brows; the woman was beautiful and alluring, with a graceful figure.

Their auras were powerful. They were none other than the Azure Mist Sect's most celebrated peerless pair of prodigies—Xiao Chengfeng and Liu Yunxi!

After Liu Yunxi stepped down from the carriage, her beautiful eyes casually swept over Hundred Herbs Pill House opposite them. She happened to glimpse the backs of Ye Xuan and Xiao Tao disappearing inside, and she froze slightly.

"What is it, Yunxi?"

Xiao Chengfeng noticed something was off about her.

"I think I saw that guy enter the pill house across the street," Liu Yunxi said lightly.

But when Xiao Chengfeng looked over, he saw only the empty entrance of Hundred Herbs Pill House and could not help sneering. "You must be seeing things. That Ye Xuan is just a worthless Mortal Body. He actually dared to come down the mountain?!"

He wrapped an arm around Liu Yunxi's slender waist, brimming with pride. "If our cooperation with the Ling Family's eldest young master succeeds this time, the sect will make another huge profit. Then I'll buy you a Yuan Gang Pill so you can attempt a breakthrough into the Heavenly Gang Realm ahead of time!"

At that, Liu Yunxi immediately smiled radiantly and leaned obediently against his side. "Brother Chengfeng is the best. Let's go in quickly. We shouldn't keep Young Master Ling waiting."

Inside Hundred Herbs Pill House, the atmosphere was bleak and desolate.

The few managers and attendants present saw Xiao Tao enter, but their gazes darted away. They all lowered their heads and pretended to be busy, making Xiao Tao's pretty face flush with embarrassment.

"Is Miss Xiao Tao from the Violet Firmament Sect here? Manager Wang, go withdraw some spirit stones from the accounts office for Miss Xiao Tao." At that moment, a weary woman's voice suddenly rang out from the second floor.

The manager who had been named immediately showed a troubled expression and hurriedly said, "Shopkeeper, we just received a shipment of goods, and the accounts already..."

"Go get them when I tell you to go!" the voice rang out again.

Manager Wang sighed helplessly and turned to leave.

"No need!"

But at that moment, Ye Xuan suddenly spoke. His clear voice carried throughout the pill house.

"We did not come to borrow money today. We came to settle the account!"

Settle the account!?

Those two words were like Startling Thunder, especially piercing within the desolate pill house!

Every manager and attendant abruptly turned their heads, all staring at Ye Xuan.

The Violet Firmament Sect still had money to settle its account!?

Xiao Tao's eyes widened at once. Her little hand tightly clutched her robe hem, and her heart leapt into her throat!

"Hm!?"

A doubtful voice came from the second floor. Then, a graceful woman in a simple, elegant long dress stepped out.

Her eyes were clear as she looked toward Ye Xuan.

"Who are you?" the woman asked.

Ye Xuan cupped his hands, neither humble nor overbearing. "Ye Xuan of the Violet Firmament Sect!"

"Ye Xuan?"

The graceful woman paused, looked Ye Xuan over again, and asked tentatively, "Could you be... Ye Xuan, the newly appointed Holy Son of the Violet Firmament Sect and Wan'er's future husband?"

"That would be me!" Ye Xuan admitted openly.

The doubt in the woman's eyes diminished somewhat, replaced by a complicated look. Turning sideways, she made an inviting gesture. "So it is Holy Son Ye. Forgive my discourtesy. Please come upstairs so we may talk."

Ye Xuan nodded and brought the anxious Xiao Tao upstairs, where they took seats in a private room.

The woman personally poured tea for Ye Xuan and introduced herself. "My name is Lin Churan, and I am the junior shopkeeper of this Hundred Herbs Pill House.

"Holy Son Ye, to be honest, I have never pressed the Violet Firmament Sect for the spirit stones and pills it owes. Wan'er and I are as close as sisters, and I know the Violet Firmament Sect is in difficult straits now. This debt can be discussed slowly in the future."

So Lin Churan was Wan'er's friend!

Ye Xuan came to a sudden realization.

"Shopkeeper Lin, you misunderstand." Ye Xuan set down his teacup and looked Lin Churan straight in the eye. "We came here solely to settle the account. We truly have no other intentions, so there is no need for you to overthink it."

Hundred Herbs Pill House could barely protect itself, yet it was still willing to help the Violet Firmament Sect. No matter what, he had to help Wan'er repay such a favor.

"This..." Lin Churan frowned slightly.

Though Ye Xuan sounded serious.

What could the Violet Firmament Sect use to settle the account?

She had long heard that Ye Xuan possessed a Mortal Body and had no wealth to speak of.

Xiao Tao was so anxious at the side that she was nearly in tears.

Before coming here, Ye Xuan had not said anything about settling the account!

Just as Lin Churan was puzzled, Ye Xuan abruptly changed the subject. "Shopkeeper Lin, your establishment... should have accumulated quite a few failed pills, correct?"

"Failed pills?"

Lin Churan was stunned. She could not follow his train of thought at all.

Xiao Tao was equally bewildered.

Ye Xuan smiled calmly and explained, "I am not especially talented, but I know a little about pill refinement. I can turn failed pills into treasure!

"When the time comes, we can use them to repay the debt. Naturally, the account will be settled!"

"What did you say!?"

The moment Ye Xuan said this, Lin Churan and Xiao Tao cried out in shock almost simultaneously!

Turn failed pills into finished pills!?

How could that possibly be!?

Lin Churan came from an alchemy family and had managed a pill house for years, yet she had never heard of such heaven-defying pill refinement!

Failed pills had mixed medicinal properties and ruined structures. They were things formed from condensed pill toxins!

Turn waste into treasure? It was simply a fantasy from the heavens!

Besides, was Ye Xuan not just an ordinary person who had only recently become able to cultivate?

How could he possibly possess pill-refining arts?!

Ye Xuan understood that words alone were no proof.

He said no more. Raising his right hand directly, he stirred his thoughts slightly.

Buzz!

A low hum rang out!

The next instant, a strange flame interwoven with blazing lightning arcs erupted fiercely from his palm!

The flame had two layers, inner and outer. The inner layer flashed with lightning, tyrannical and destructive; the outer layer surged with blazing fire, scorching and pure!

The scorching aura instantly filled the private room!

Only after three full breaths did Lin Churan recover enough to cry out, her voice already distorted:

"A... a second-grade Exotic Fire!?"

That thunderfire was scorching and possessed two layers. It had clearly reached the level of a second-grade innate Exotic Fire!

An alchemist born with even a first-grade Exotic Fire was already one in ten thousand, a genius of the alchemical path!

Yet Ye Xuan possessed an even rarer second-grade Exotic Fire!

Looking across the entire Northern Region, there was likely not a second person like him!